Filters collect germs from your water, so
someone who is not HIV infected should change the filter cartridges for you; if
you do it yourself, wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards. Filters may not
remove crypto as well as boiling does because even good brands of filters may
sometimes have manufacturing flaws that allow small numbers of crypto to get
past the filter. Also, poor filter maintenance or failure to replace filter
cartridges as recommended by the manufacturer can cause your filter to
fail.

Water labeled as follows has been processed
by method effective against crypto:

Reverse osmosis treated

Distilled

Filtered through an absolute 1 micron or smaller
filter

"One micron absolute"

Water labeled as follows may not have been
processed by method effective against crypto

Filtered

Micro-filtered

Carbon-filtered

Particle-filtered

Multimedia-filtered

Ozonated

Ozone-treated

Ultraviolet light-treated

Activated carbon-treated

Carbon dioxide-treated

Ion exchange-treated

Deionized

Purified

Chlorinated

C. Bottled water: If you drink
bottled water, read the label and look for this information: Bottled water
labels reading "well water," "artesian well water," "spring
water," or "mineral water" do not guarantee

that the water does not contain crypto.
However, water that comes from protected well or protected spring water sources
is less likely to contain crypto than bottled water or tap water from less
protected sources, such as rivers and lakes. Any bottled water (no matter what
the source) that has been treated by one or more of the methods listed in the
top part of the water filters table (p. 8) is considered safe.